The Hockey News (Adam Proteau wrote the blurb) believes the Sens need secondary scoring along with depth and sandpaper on their blueline. They see Jakob Silfverberg and Mika Zibanejad as the next players in the pipeline, but say they “lack size.” Silfverberg doesn’t have a big frame, but no one who has looked at Zibanejad (in person or on paper) would mistake him for a small player. There’s no mock draft included in the issue, but purely by the rankings Hampus Lindholm would be their candidate. Ottawa ranks fifth in THN’s “Future Watch”. Their list of shrewd post-lockout picks are (they actually mean lockout onward, given that they include 2005 picks): Erik Karlsson, Mark Stone, Zack Smith, Erik Condra, Colin Greening, and Robin Lehner. Their list of poor selections are Brian Lee and Jim O’Brien.

I’m not a huge fan of THN’s draft prognosis (last year they were the worst among sources as far as they ranked (three rounds)), but it’s the least expensive option available and it does provide profiles of the top-100 players.